PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte reiterated on Saturday that he did not object to the passage of a new law on the Bangsamoro so long as it does not have controversial provisions inconsistent with the Constitution.
“I am willing to implement [a new Bangsamoro law], even tomorrow. We just have to remove those [provisions] with issues with the Constitution,” Duterte said.
“You can develop the resources if you want, you can invite investors. But let’s remove the controversial constitutional provisions,” he added.
Duterte made the remarks amid repeated questions over the Bangsamoro Basic Law which failed to pass the 16th Congress because of controversial provisions that were interpreted to be violations of the 1987 Constitution.
But Duterte has affirmed that he has no objection to the passage of a more inclusive Bangsamoro law that would dovetail with his plans to change the country’s form of government to a federal system.
The main beneficiary of the defeated BBL—Moro Islamic Liberation Front—has recently agreed to junk the BBL in favor of a new enabling law that will also implement the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro it signed with the government last year.
Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza also said the government and the MILF will again meet in Kuala Lumpur next month to discuss preliminaries for the new enabling law.
But the wife of former Cotabato Mayor Muslimin Sema, who heads a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front has filed the original version of the defeated BBL.
Maguindanao Rep. Sandra Sema said she reintroduced the bill to the House of Representatives in a bid to make it more inclusive.
She said the MNLF faction led by her husband is not hostile to the MILF, unlike the faction led by MNLF founder Nur Misuari.
A third MNLF group, led by Abulkhayr Alonto, has also expressed support to the peace overture between the government and the MILF.